Canada 2026

Day 38 August 30, 2026 North Sydney Nova Scotia to Margaree Nova Scotia 147 miles

We made it through the night on the ferry. Not great sleep but some. All of the cabins were pre-booked. It was much like cheap airplane seats and a high noise level. Sure glad we brought the blanket and jackets. We were one of the last vehicles off the ferry. Only semi trailers left to go. Sure would be interesting to watch them load those trailers. They are so close together and they would need to back them in place.

Not far off the boat is a gas station with a Robin’s. We filled with gas and then got some breakfast at Robin’s. They are a fast food chain all over the country. They also have pastry items. Their cranberry oat bars are especially good.

The weather is mostly sunny so we parked and ate breakfast in the car. Robin’s doesn’t have any seating. Their drive thru is quite busy. About when we were going to leave a lady came up to talk about the car. She was waiting for someone so she just kept talking. She and her husband have a small dairy farm.

A guy also stopped to talk. He said to be sure to go clockwise around the Cabot Trail. You must cross with a small ferry but it is free. He should have said counter clockwise as that is the only way you can go after crossing with the ferry. He also said to be sure to check the brakes before going too far.

Neither of us could remember if we drove this trail four years ago when we went through Canada. We both did remember the Quilt Shop that advertised Celtic quilts but didn’t have any nor did they have pattern. So we actually passed a quilt shop without stopping.

The first big turn out we came to we stopped so Rob could adjust the brakes. They really needed it. Good thing we did because the down hill stretches were very steep.

Sure enough we came to a sharp turn followed by a steep incline. The car simply would not get to the top. We had to stop about half way up. Two vehicles stopped to help. Both of those were cars without enough horsepower to pull us up. One of the drivers flagged down a 3/4 ton pickup. That driver had never pulled anyone but he was willing to try. He actually did quite well. We did somehow manage to make it up the rest of the hills. Rob was able to get running starts at those.

Much of the trail is in one of the national parks. The entry fee was free through Sept 7. The attendant suggested filling with gas just at the end of the town since there is no gas for quite some distance. When we got to the gas station the attendant there asked if we preferred premium gas. If so go a little further because the next station has premium gas. We though that was most considerate of him. Glad we got the premium for the 1-2 extra horsepower it gives.

Definitely more areas of road construction than we expected. That meant stopping for pilot cars and lots of gravel. The gravel roads were quite smooth and in most cases better than the asphalt patches roadway.

The east side of the trail has two large mountains to go over and one just slightly smaller. The landscape on that side is mostly forest. You rarely see the ocean. Then there is the west side. Most of it is along the ocean with amazing cliffs and numerous smaller hills with long inclines and declines. View points are scattered along the way but we didn’t stop in case we couldn’t get up the hill from there. The brakes definitely got hot a few times.

By now some dark clouds had rolled in and threatened rain. The town at the end of the trail was a welcome site. We tried for one motel but it was call a number and that person never called back. We continued on. No more lodging for a long ways.

We finally saw a place across the river and up the hill. We did that and got the last room. That was because someone had reserved two nights and didn’t show up for the first night so we got the second night. The bad thing is no where to turn around for the car with the trailer attached. We will deal with this issue in the morning.

The rain started just as we unloaded. There was thunder and lightning with lots of rain.